Bill Text: NY S08894 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires utility companies maintain a toll free number for consumers to call to report service outages which shall be made available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-11 - REFERRED TO RULES [S08894 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S08894-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8894

                    IN SENATE

                                     August 11, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  KAPLAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

        AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relating to requiring utility
          companies maintain a toll free number for reporting service outages

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
     2  119-d to read as follows:
     3    § 119-d. Toll free number for service outages.    1.  Any  gas  corpo-
     4  ration, electric corporation, gas and electric corporation, water corpo-
     5  ration, steam corporation, telegraph corporation, telephone corporation,
     6  cable  television  company,  internet service provider or a municipality
     7  rendering equivalent utility services is required to establish,  provide
     8  and  maintain  a toll free phone number for consumers of such utility to
     9  call for reporting service outages. Such toll free number shall:
    10    a. be attended twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week;
    11    b. have the capacity to adequately  address  a  surge  in  phone  call
    12  volume during an emergency situation or extreme weather conditions;
    13    c.  be posted clearly and conspicuously on the homepage of the utility
    14  company's website; and
    15    d. be posted clearly and conspicuously  on  the  first  page  of  each
    16  consumer's billing statement.
    17    2.  The  failure  to  comply with the provisions in this section shall
    18  subject any gas corporation,  electric  corporation,  gas  and  electric
    19  corporation,  water  corporation,  steam  corporation,  telegraph corpo-
    20  ration,  telephone  corporation,  cable  television  company,   internet
    21  service provider or a municipality rendering equivalent utility services
    22  to the penalties authorized in section twenty-five of this chapter.
    23    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    24  have become a law.


         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD17084-03-0
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